Welfare reform? Following the 'work-first' way

This paper provides a brief overview of the radical sectoral shift effected by the Australian Government’s 2005–06 welfare-to-work reforms,

These reforms, it is argued, transformed both the responsibility for, and the content of welfare for Australians of working age – sole parents, people with partial diability and most unemployed people.

In effect, this transformation moved people from being the subject of ‘social security policy’ to become the subject of ‘labour policy’ (or more accurately ‘labour-market policy’). The primary role of social security payments became to impose a set of conditions (backed by a strong compliance regime) which oblige people to accept any job, of almost any duration or terms.

The author argues that genuine welfare reform would require refocusing attention on the social rights of welfare recipients as citizens and government taking action to reduce the risks of participating in an (increasingly deregulated) labour market.

This paper is developed from a presentation at the conference ‘Our Social Rights and Responsibilities: the new politics of welfare’ convened by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence in Melbourne on 30 August 2006.